By the turn of the century, knowledge of cocaine’s addictive properties became very well known to the general public. In 1906, the US Congress passed the Federal Food and Drugs Act which required special labeling for products that contained alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and morphine. Cannabis, cocaine, and heroin were still accessible to the public without prescription, so long as they were properly labeled. It is estimated that labeling resulted in a 1/3 drop in sales for medications that contained opiates.
In 1914, the US Congress passed the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act. This act of congress made use of cocaine illegal and regulated the importation of opiates into the United States. The Act imposed a special tax “on all persons who produce, import, manufacture, compound, deal in, dispense, sell, distribute, or give away opium or coca leaves, their salts, derivatives, or preparations, and for other purposes.”
In 1970, the US Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act. In modern times, it is this act of congress that has created the regulatory scheme and criminal laws that are enforced today. The Controlled Substances Act was passed as Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. Together, these Acts comprise the US Government’s formal policy on drug regulation.
From an organizational perspective, the Controlled Substances Act listed every known drug into 5 different categories that the Act refers to as schedules. Each schedule has a different classification. Cocaine is considered to be a Schedule II drug because it: 1) has a high potential for abuse; 2) has a restricted, although acceptable, medical use in the United States; and 3) abuse of cocaine may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.
Aside from classifying controlled substances into schedules, the Controlled Substances Act also criminalized personal and commercial use of certain controlled substances. Cocaine is one such substance whose use has been criminalized. But for very limited medical application by a prescribing doctor, use of cocaine has been made illegal.
During the late 1980’s illicit use of cocaine as well as its illegal importation into the United States triggered a very strong backlash by the public. In the next section, we will discuss how the drug trade exploded in the United States with the illegal importation of cocaine from places like Colombia and Mexico.